Through widespread use of the Internet, various sorts of information floods around our environment. Users who utilize information equipment can access information to be retrieved by inputting a keyword to the information equipment. It is much arduous for users to input by themselves a keyword connected directly to information to be retrieved every time when information is desired. For example, inputting a keyword to a terminal such as a mobile phone on the move and setting a car navigation system on the move by means of an automobile are taxing and may be dangerous operation under certain circumstances. For this reason, many users of car navigation systems drive without setting any destination.
As one of countermeasures for tackling this problem, a method has been provided in which information that a user might desire is acquired and presented in advance by predicting user's behavior.
There has been proposed, for example, an information system boarded on a car in which a travel starting point and travel end point are stored as a travel history together with conditions such as date in a terminal boarded on the car; upon detection of start of user's engine, the travel history is retrieved using conditions such as the current position, the date, and the like as keys; the destination where the user has been with the most highest frequency in the past and necessary time that has been required for reaching the destination in the past are referenced; and then, the destination and the necessary time are displayed to the user automatically (Patent Document 1).
Further, a information presenting method has been proposed in which given behavior of a user carrying an information terminal is divided by units of travel behavior and stopping (halt) behavior; information on an appearance frequency, contents of behavior immediately before and immediately after the appearance, and the like for the given behavior are grouped and stored in a server as a travel history; a user who satisfies a condition specified by a service provider (for example, staying around Kyoto station at the time between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Sunday) is found by behavior prediction from the history information; and then, commercial information is provided to the thus found user (Patent Document 2).
(Patent Document 1) Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 11-149596A (particularly, FIG. 1)
(Patent Document 2) Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 2000-293540A (particularly, FIG. 1)